Jeremy Robinson, as he knew himself, woke late the next morning. His first conscious thoughts, before opening his eyes, were familiar; the scent of bacon wavered through the air as sounds from an open window indicated that he was somewhere out in the country. But all familiarity ended as soon as he opened those eyes to the crying of an infant.
"Oh good, you're awake." Kathleen announced, as she hurried to and fro around the house, wearing nurse's scrubs and looking at her watch. Grabbing a slightly damp pair of jeans and a blue plaid shirt from a thin wash line that had been strung across the kitchen area of the one room house, she flung them toward Luke. "I mended your clothes for you, even sewed the scrap back onto your shirt that you had used on your head. Tuck it into your pants and you'll never know it was ripped."
"Well what's wrong with my other clothes?" Luke asked, looking at the set in disbelief and wondering why he would have to wear the same clothes a second day in a row.
"We didn't have time to grab any from the house. Don't worry Jeremy, blue suits you. You look good wearing it every day. Besides, who's gonna see you except me and the baby?"
Luke didn't answer as she continued to hurry around the house. Ejecting a bottle from a pan of warm water, she gave it a good vigorous shaking before she brought it to the baby, who took it hungrily and lay back in the crib, satisfied. "Now remember our discussion last night. I have to go to work today. I'll put Will's crib here next to your bed. That way you won't have to go too far to get him if he gets fussy. I'll borrow a pair of crutches from the hospital for you and bring them home tonight."
"Listen, I ain't sure I know anything about takin' care of a baby, especially with a busted ankle." Luke replied nervously, eyeing Will who looked right back at him with what seemed to be equally nervous brown eyes.
"There's nothing to it." Kathleen announced, bringing him a paper plate loaded with bacon and eggs and putting it on the side table next to him along with a cup of coffee." Everything you need is right there by your side. If he gets hungry, feed him. If he's wet, change him. If he's sleepy, put him to sleep. If all else fails, read him a book. There's a couple there next to the diapers." She instructed, looking at her watch again. "I'm late." She then announced, pecking the baby on the head, and then Luke." I should be home around seven."
"But….."
"Bye." She replied, offering Luke a slight wave as she headed out the door and climbed inside a car to make her way to the hospital.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I don't know Uncle Jesse, it's like he's disappeared into thin air." Bo announced later that afternoon after another fruitless search of a Chickasaw County road. Having stopped by a small pond to take time to eat a lunch consisting of granola bars and trail mix from a local country store, he picked up stones and skipped them across the water in frustration.
"That it has." Jesse replied, chewing some granola. "But at least J.D. had the good sense to let Rosco and Enos help Cooter and Daisy check things out back in Hazzard. Luke might not have been missin' the required 24 hours, but even he knew enough about that boy to realize somethin' ain't right."
"Yeah, well I wish he could call Sheriff Little and give him a talkin' too." Bo replied. "We've covered a lot of roads here but I just don't know Chickasaw like I do Hazzard. Seems Luke would have to be here or back in Hazzard since the he would have took the Chicasaw exit.. State Patrol would have found him on I-75 if he'd run into trouble there."
"That is, if he's even in a wreck. Don't forget somebody coulda stole the car and hit him in the head or somethin'."
"That's the part I's tryin' to forget, Uncle Jesse." Bo replied. "This mornin' I thought it'd been just awful to find Luke in a wreck, now I can't help but wonder if that wouldn't 'ave been the lesser of two evils."
Jesse didn't reply but simply gave a slight nod of agreement. "Well, 'till we hear from him, can't do nothin' but keep lookin'. We best get back on the road."
With that, Jesse stood up and dropped the wrapper from his granola bar. Bending down and picking it back up, he attempted to rise once again before he stopped and muttered 'Uh oh.'
"What's the matter?" Bo asked.
"I'll tell you whatsamatter." Jesse muttered. "Of all the dang times for it to go, my back just went out!"
"Well can't you stand up?" Bo asked, putting his hands on Jesse's arm in an effort to assist him.
"'Course I can, it's just that I wanted to get a real good look at yer boots there." Jesse replied in pain as he held onto to Bo and the side of his truck and tried to pull himself up without success.
"We need to get you to a doctor." Bo announced, assisting Jesse to the passenger's side.
"No we've got to look for Luke. Besides, it'll pass after awhile." Jesse replied.
Despite his worry over his cousin, Bo couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Jesse, this ain't the first time your back ever went out and you know as well as I do that you ain't gonna experience nothin' but pure agony until you see somebody."
"Well……….alright." Jesse replied reluctantly as Bo used all that was in him to get his uncle up into the cab. "But we ain't got a lot of time to dilly dally around. Take me to the emergency room."
"Yes sir." Bo replied, slamming the door before he rushed around to the driver's seat.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Kathleen!" Heather Greer exclaimed, arching an eyebrow in surprise at seeing her co-worker standing in front of her. "I wasn't expecting to see you back today. I thought you were going to be out in Arizona with your mom another week."
"My sister is out there now, so I felt comfortable enough to come back." Kathleen explained, throwing her purse under the counter. "Besides, Mom seems to be doing much better, thank heaven."
"Glad to hear that. Did you hear what happened to Kate right after you left?" Heather immediately began, jumping right in to gossip mode. Seeing a third woman approach the counter, Heather quickly cupped her hand around Kathleen's ear and whispered something briefly, Kathleen's eyes widening in shock. "Nooooo………." Kathleen trailed off, looking in surprise at her friend.
"Hey Kate." Heather then said, moving away from Kathleen and hugging the third lady. "How you holdin' up?"
"I'm holdin'." Kate simply replied, hugging Heather back and sniffing.
"Honey, I'm not sure you're ready to be back at work yet. Why don't you go on home? Kathleen's back and I'm sure she can take your patients for you."
"Of course I will." Kathleen replied, patting Kate's arm. "I just heard what happened, I'm so sorry."
"Thank you, but there's too many memories at home." Kate argued. "I just can't bear to be there right now."
"Hey ladies." Jack, an orderly said, moving their attention to him. "Dr. Wilson needs one of you down in emergency, said patients are coming out of the woodwork."
Kathleen turned to Kate. "Are you sure you don't want to leave."
"I'm positive." Kate nodded.
Nodding and giving her a hug, Kathleen turned and joined Jack as they walked together toward the emergency room.
"Welcome back Kathleen." Dr. Wilson said, offering her a brief greeting once she had arrived. "Take this chart and check on the patient in 3. We've got so many people here I'm just trying to prioritize at this point."
"Yes doctor." She nodded, taking the chart. Making her way to three, she threw back the curtain to see to the patient within…….and gasped in surprise.
For there was the elderly man in a red cap and the young man she saw pictured in the photographs she had gazed at the night before!
"Luke!" She whispered out loud, before she was able to catch herself.
I've got a feelin' that ole' Jesse ain't gonna feel too bad about lookin' for medical help any more.